Over a Year?

I've started making Christmas cards, and that's when I realized it's been over a year since I've posted.   I'm having so much fun making Christmas cards this year, that I decided to share a few.  Enjoy.

Dies:  Delicate Ornament Thinlits Dies from the Holiday 2015 Stampin' Up! catalog

           Striped Scallops Thinlits from the 2015-16 catalog

Paper:  Whisper White, Red Foil Sheets, Gold Glimmer Paper

Accessories:  Gold Metallic Thread

Dies:  Delicate Ornament Thinlits Dies from the Holiday 2015 Stampin' Up! catalog

Paper:  Whisper White, Gold Glimmer Paper, Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack

Stamps:  Embellished Ornaments

Dies:  Sleigh Ride Edgelits Dies from the Holiday 2015 Stampin' Up! catalog

Paper:  Whisper White, Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack

Stamps:  Jingle All the Way

Christmas Bliss

I'm working on Christmas cards and made a Christmas Bliss card.  I used the photo-polymer Christmas Bliss stamp set by Stampin' Up!  I love the combo of the soft sky, real red, and white cardstock.  The Confetti Stars Punch made all those punched stars a snap.  I also used the Lucky Stars Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.

Thanks for looking.

Tina

Planning for Christmas

My next stamp camp (this coming Monday) will feature Christmas cards.  One card we'll make is below.  I used the Good Greetings stamp set that will be offered as a hostess stamp set soon.  This is a quick, simple card to make and is perfect for a class project.  It's not fancy, but it's fun to make -- especially taking the bite out of the Hershey Kiss. 

Pop-Up Tree Card

For anyone who really knows me, you know I hate fussy-cutting.  However, I will do it when there's a card I absolutely love.  I found the pop-up Christmas tree card directions at http://extremecards.blogspot.com/ and want to thank Carol at Extreme Cards and Papercrafting for sharing her projects and patterns.  The pattern and instructions are at http://extremecards.blogspot.com/2011/12/3d-christmas-tree-pop-up-card-tutorial.html .

The front of the card looks like a regular Christmas card.  I used Stampin' Up! products to make the card front.  The card pictured below was made for Judy (my neighbor and my downline).

Once opened, the card pops to life with a three-dimensional tree.  This inside pop-up is what I learned how to make using the pattern provided by extremecards.blogspot.com.  Cute, eh? 

Here's a picture of another card I made for Sandy, another member of my downline:

These cards were fun to make and even more fun for folks to receive.  Check out extreme cards website.  It's great.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  Island Indigo, Night of Navy, Whisper White, and Silver Foil Sheet

Stamp Sets:  Christmas Messages, More Merry Messages

Framelits:  Festive Flurry Framelits Dies

Other:  Glitter Paper

Tina

Downline Stamp Class

I had a stamp class with my downline earlier in the week.  Below is a picture of my downline:  Sandy, Judy, and Ryn.  As you can see, we were making Grinch Christmas cards.

Judy (below) is working on a washi tape Christmas card, the second card we made that day.

Ryn and Sandy (below l to r) are using the Big Shot.

Judy made some high heel cupcakes to share with us.  These were practice for the ones she and Sandy made later in the week for a church gathering.  If you look closely at the yellow ones in the center front, you can see the "high heels."  I wish I had taken a side view so you could really see the platform high heels.  Very cute.  As you can see, Judy is quite talented at cake-making as well as card-making.

Does seeing those cupcakes make you want one?  I generally don't care for cake (or pie or cookies...), but these make me want a taste.  Truth be told, Judy did share them with the group, so I had one for dessert that very day.  And yes, they were delicious as well as pretty.

My Three-Mistakes Card

You know those new foil sheets in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog?  Well, I wanted to use the gold to cut out some snowflakes using the Festive Flurry Framelits dies.  That's when my mistakes happened.

Mistake number one:  I was cutting out two snowflakes, but after I ran them through the Big Shot, I realized I had put one die upside down.  Yep, it didn't cut, but it left the gold foil paper with a nice impression of the snowflake.  Well, I had one snowflake and a ruined piece of gold foil paper -- or so I thought.

Mistake number two:  I cut the white background cardstock to emboss it using the Pretty Print Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  After I embossed it, I realized I had cut it too small.  Drat.

Mistake number three:  I heat embossed (using gold embossing powder) the greeting (from the Joy to the World stamp set in the holiday catalog).  It was perfect -- until I noticed a mark to the right of the word "Holidays."  I tried to tell myself the recipient probably wouldn't notice it, but it was all I could see.

It all came together  for me, though, when I used that ruined piece of gold foil paper as the bottom layer.  The ruined part doesn't show now.  It also made the white embossed layer a perfect size. 

And, remember that one snowflake I had cut?  It worked great to cover that stray mark that was just after the word "Holidays."  All it needed was a bit of silver sparkle, and the Glimmer Paper was perfect for the job.

I think someone special will get this card this Christmas.

Festive Flurry

I wanted to make a Christmas card for a coworker that I knew (hoped?) she would love.  The result is below.  I sure hope she oohs and aahs over it when she gets it.  I guess  have to wait until December to find out.

The Details
I used the Stampin' Up! Festive Flurry Framelits Dies and Festive Flurry stamp set.  The Designer Series Paper is the Winter Frost paper in the holiday catalog.  You can't quite tell from the photo, but I used the silver foil sheet for the background square (behind the white) as well as for two snowflake cuts.  You can see the solid silver points in the snowflake layers.  The card stock for the card itself is Smoky Slate.  A Frosted Finishes Embellishment is in the center.  Perfect!

I had planned to put a sentiment on the front, but decided I liked the card as it is.  Now, I must wait since it's three months until Christmas.  I don't know about you, but when I make a card specifically for someone, I want to give it to that person right away.

It's not too soon to plan for Christmas

I was so inspired by a card done by Brian King that I did a few variations of it.  You can see his original card at his blog at stampwithbrian.com.  His blog is worth checking out and adding to your list to follow.  Even if you don't stamp, his writing is entertaining and interesting (synonyms?).

The card below is basically the same card Brian made only I turned the star background on point.

The next version of the card is basically the same but is done in blues.  I sponged the silver glimmer paper with soft sky ink.

I stepped it up a bit for this last card.  I trimmed the layers in Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  It sure sets it all off nicely. 

Supplies Used:

Glimmer Paper:  Silver, Champagne
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Gold (in top card), Baked Brown Sugar (in bottom card), Soft Sky, and Island Indigo (in middle card)
Stamp Set:  More Merry Messages
Big Shot and Festive Flurry Framelits Dies

I'm already thinking about Christmas

I can't help it.  Try as I might to set my mind on making autumn cards, I find myself making another Christmas card.  I've been coming up with different designs so I can choose what I want to offer at my October stamp camp.  I will offer at least three -- maybe four -- different cards.

I wasn't happy with my snowflake card until I put the Frosted Finished Embellishments in the center of the snowflake.  Perfect!  The silver embossing powder was used both on the snowflake and the sentiment.

Stamp Sets:  Festive Flurry stamp set, More Merry Messages

Big Shot:  Festive Flurry Framelits Dies 

Cardstock:  Night of Navy, Smoky Slate

Other:  Silver Emboss Powder

I had some fun playing with the Circle Card Thinlits Die.  I used Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder on Coastal Cabana cardstock for the snowflake.  Once again, it was the Frosted Finished Embellishments placed in the center of the snowflake to save the day.

Here's the card opened.  I left the right side of the circle (with the saying) blank so I could sign the card there.  By the way, the Merry Christmas is heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

Stamp Sets:  Christmas Messages, More Merry Messages

Big Shot:  Festive Flurry Framelits Dies,  Circle Card Thinlits Die

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Coastal Cabana

DSP:  Winter Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper

Other:  Silver Emboss Powder

The card below is a tried and true design, but I think it will be fun to do in class.  Besides, that stamp set sentiment is perfect for this card.

Stamp Sets:  More Merry Messages

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Real Red, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Gumball Green, Pacific Point, Melon Mambo

Other:  Dazzling Details (on the light bulbs)

Thanks for coming by to see the cards.
Tina

Circle Card Thinlit Die

I was very excited to win the new Circle Card Thinlit Die at the convention.  It cuts and scores the card all in one step.  Amazing -- and fun to use.

The Christmas card above has some silver glimmer paper to add a little pizzazz .

Cardstock:  Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, and Basic Gray cardstock

DSP:  Winter Frost Designer Series Paper Stack

Stamps:  Christmas Collectibles, Christmas Messages

Punches:  Scallop Edge Border, Christmas Ornament Punch, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle

Framelits:  Circles Collection, Circle Card Thinlits Die

Another swing card made from the Circle Card Thinlits Die.

Cardstock:  Tangerine Tango, Crumb Cake, Naturals Ivory

Stamps:  Perfect Blend, Gorgeous Grunge

Punches:  Chevron Border Punch, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle

Framelits:  Circle Card Thinlits Die

A few Christmas cards

Now that the "the greeting cards have all been sent, and the Christmas rush is through," I decided to post pictures of a few of the cards I sent out this year.  I forgot to take pictures of all of them, but these are the cards I did photograph.   (By the way, that quote above is from a Karen Carpenter Christmas song.)

I cased one or two of these cards, changing only minor things.  CASE = Copy and Share Everything.

Above:  Open Sleigh stamp set

 Above:  Lovely as a Tree stamp set

I cased the above card from Pattie Welp, a Stampin' Up demonstrator.  I love this card!

Above:  Scentsational Season stamp set

 Above:  Delightful Decorations stamp set

  Above:  Delightful Decorations and Lovely as a Tree stamp sets

  Above:  Curly Cute stamp set and Northern Flurry embossing folder

 Above:  Lovely as a Tree and More Merry Messages stamp sets

Merry Christmas.

Tina

Thinking about Christmas

I've been making Christmas cards and realized that not only have I not been posting them, but I haven't even taken pictures of them.  Admittedly, it may be because I'm not very good at photographing the cards that I block that step out of the process.  In any event, I quickly snapped a couple pictures to post.

The first card is done with the Labels Collection Framelits for the Big Shot.  That red piece you see below lifts and opens up the card.  That's a button glued in the center and tied with Baker's Twine.

You can see how the pieces interlock.  The card was made using the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' set from the Holiday Catalog.  

I made several variations of the card below, experimenting with different papers and embossing folders.  I used the Scentsational Season stamp set and Framelits Dies.

The card below was inspired by one done by another Stampin' Up demonstrator.

Well, as you can see, I'm starting to think about Christmas.  I did make several Thanksgiving cards, and maybe I will get them photographed before I mail them.  Maybe.

As always, thanks for looking at my cards.

Tina

November Stamp Projects

For the November stamp workshops, we'll be making three projects:  a gift card holder, a candy bar slider, and a Christmas card. 

The gift card holder pictured above has an envelope made just the right size to fit a gift card.  I got the instructions from Sharon Cline, another Stampin' Up demonstrator, when she posted a picture and explained how she made the card.

The bow unties and the gift card fits inside the envelope.  Below is a picture of another card made with the same technique.

In the November workshop, we'll also line our envelopes:

The second project we'll do is a candy bar slider card.

When you pull on the candy bar on the top, the card slides out the bottom:

We also will be making a Christmas card to round out the class.  

Thanks for looking!

Tina

New Blog Hop, New Cards, & Record-Breaking Hot Weather

Hi,

The Hoppers' August Blog Hop is over, but I thought I'd share the card I had posted.

I chose the real red/pumpkin pie/early espresso combination for my autumn-themed card.  I used the baby-wipe technique where I put drops of the three colors on a moist baby wipe and used that as my stamp pad.  The leaves have all three colors.

Products used:  

Paper:  Whisper White, Early Espresso, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie

Punches:  Large Oval, Small Oval

Stamp Sets:  Lovely as a Tree, Full of Blessings (from the Holiday Catalog)

Tools:  Big Shot

Embossing Folder:  Perfect Polka Dots

I changed one of the sympathy card designs for my upcoming stamp camp.  Since we'll be making two sympathy cards, the second one will be the one pictured below.

I like the simplicity of it and think it'll be an easy card to make in class.

Speaking of stamp camp, we'll also make some Christmas tags.  Below are three that we'll be making in class.  Cute and fun to make.  Does it get any better than that?

This last weekend was hot for the Seattle area.  I saw in today's paper that we broke a temperature record for yesterday.  Today is ten degrees cooler, so it's quite pleasant outside.  I'm sure glad the garbage strike is over.  Trash piling up with record-breaking heat isn't a good combo...

Thanks for stopping by.

Tina

Planning for Christmas

We'll be making three different Christmas cards at the July stamp camp.  I love all three of them (plus a few other designs I decided not to make in class).  Why are Christmas cards so darn much fun to make?

The embossed snowflake card below is made with a choice of two mat colors (and ink colors for the greeting)--light blue (Bashful Blue card stock) or dark blue (Night of Navy card stock).  I think I like the light blue one better.  The SEASON'S GREETINGS comes from the Curly Cute stamp set.

I used the new Open Sleigh stamp set for the card below.  I embossed the top design using gold embossing powder.

 I made two versions of the card below.  I embossed the background mat (I love my Big Shot) with the polka dot embossing folder on the first card.

The second version of the card simply uses a polka dot background paper from the Summer Smooches Designer Paper Series.  I also used a different sentiment.

To those who live close by, I hope you can make it to July's Christmas card stamp camp.  To those who live far away, I wish you could come and join us.  And, to my good friend, Gwen, thanks for suggesting that I do Christmas cards in the summer.

Tina